The Punic War Project Research

After much contemplation I have decided to begin a Punic War project, and I will be starting with the Carthaginians. To me, Carthage is a great mystery of the ancient world - we know some, but not much, due in very large part to their complete destruction at the hands of the Romans. Before I dive into the painting, army building and campaigning that most people associate with table-top wargaming I want to understand Carthage, its history and its military.

I have begun reading and marking Livy's Hannibals' War and thus far it has been fantastic.

I have ordered several models from Gripping Beast to begin my army and when they arrive I will post photos and reviews.

Hail Caesar!

To begin this process of returning to war-gaming specifally set in the ancient world I needed a set of rules so that I could field my armies and play to conclusion. There are many different rules sets available - some of them are very tournament oriented and tedious and some are very loose and well, not very well thought out. I had heard good things about the Hail Caesar rules that were written by Rick Priestly and published by Warlord Games. A friend at my local gaming club, also looking to play more historical games, mentioned that he would be purchasing the Hail Caesar rules to evaluate, and with that I ordered my own copy (its always good to have somebody else to play the games with).

After reading through the rule book I am very excited to give them a test drive on the gaming table. I wanted a rule-set in which a game could be completed within a reasonable amount of time (three hours is fine, I just don't want a game to last three days) but still allowed for the battles to feel epic with a good number of models on the table. I have played many "skirmish" style games that I enjoy very much, but I want something a bit grander for my historical gaming. Hail Caesar seems to fit the bill here perfectly - the rules are casual and meant for a more fun and relaxed atmosphere. The book was high quality, well laid out and very descriptive - and I loved the photography included.... talk about motivation to get painting!

So, for now at least, I will be using the Hail Caesar rules for my historical games. I will certainly give my full impression of the rules after my first game.

A New Beginning...

I have been a war-gaming since my early childhood growing up in the western state of Idaho. My brother's and I would spend hour after hour setting up little plastic army men and then knocking them down as we simulated what we imagined to be some exotic battle in some far-away land (it is to be noted that we also did this with Star Wars action figures). As we grew older we began to formalize our games by purchasing rule sets (or rather, having our parents purchase them)... back then these were primarily in the form of Avalon Hill games that used tiny cardboard counters to represent the fighting forces - we thrived on Squad Leader and War and Peace. We didn't know that we we had become war-gaming hobbyists. but we had.

I am still playing games but without the cardboard counters - I prefer beautifully sculpted models that I can paint myself, display, and put on a grand table for gaming with friends. This new blog is where I intend to chronicle my hobby projects, I hope you enjoy it.